


The world was built for two

by scalira



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, it's pretty cute okay, mostly fluff and not really a plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:42:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6509044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scalira/pseuds/scalira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The vampire world is pretty cool. The Mundane world is pretty cool too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The world was built for two

**Author's Note:**

> this title doesn't make sense but it's almost 2am and it was this one of 'The best of two worlds' and I can't make a Hannah Montana reference in a Saphael fic. I just can't.

Raphael has never had a fledgling before. Sure, he’s had responsibilities, he’s had to look after people. But Simon is his  _personal_  responsibility. He gave his word to the redhead Shadowhunter that he’d look after him,  _protect_ him, and Raphael Santiago is a man of his word.

He quickly comes to find out that Simon isn’t an easy fledgling to have. He doesn’t remember himself being such a pain in the ass, fighting  _so_  hard against what he had become. And he wore his cross around his neck despite it burning his flesh. Which is saying a lot.

At first he tries to be strict. He punishes Simon when he doesn’t meet the required quota during his training sessions, holds back his ration of blood of the day until he can retract his fangs. But that doesn’t seem to work, considering the fact that Simon starts to refuse to come to training all together.

So he tries a different approach.

He tries to be  _relatable_ , staying up way after dawn to study the newest pop culture references he can somehow incorporate in his trainings. He refers to himself as Obi Wan Kenobi and to Simon as Anakin until Simon says he thinks they were gay together. Then he tells him he’s like the Crystal Gems and Simon is like Steven Universe, which just leads to them binge watching that stupid cartoon for hours on end. Lastly, he says he’s the Jackie Chan to his Jaden Smith, but that just starts a rant about how that was the worst Karate Kid adaption ever.

Finally, he decides that he’ll just have to show Simon why being a vampire can be pretty cool.

“I thought I wasn’t supposed to leave the hotel after that werewolf incident,” Simon says, hobbling after Raphael through the entrance doors.

“You aren’t. But you’re with me, so I’ll allow it.”

“So where exactly are we going?”

“You’ll see.”

Raphael leads his fledgling around the hotel and through a hole in a fence. There’s a backyard you can only enter through here, and on the dry grass there are standing a dozen motorcycles.

“Huh,” Simon hums.

“Never saw you as the type to own a motorcycle.”

“Really? Not even with the leather jackets?”

“Oh, so that’s why you’re wearing one tonight? I thought all your suits were in the laundry.”

“What are you talking about? I wear leather jackets all the time.”

“Whatever, John Travolta. Why are we here?”

Raphael shoots him a grin.

“We’re going for a ride,” he says.

“No way! For real?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome! I’ve never ridden a motorcycle before. My mom always said they were too dangerous and would get me killed. But then again, I’d also never ridden a vampire and I still got killed by one. Guess my mom didn’t see that one coming, huh, can you imagine her warning me not to ride vampires because I’ll get myself k-” Simon rambles as he gets on the motorcycle behind Raphael. He presses his thighs tightly against Raphael’s and wraps his arms around his waist.

“Okay, hold on and for the love of God, don’t let go off me.”

“Don’t I need a helmet?”

“You got one. It’s called immortality.” And with that, Raphael hits the gas and takes off. He’s heading straight for the building and Simon tenses behind him when he realizes this.

“Uh, Raph, shouldn’t w- tu- turn right! Raphael, turn right! We’re gonna crash!” But right as Simon wants to throw himself off the motorcycle, Raphael shifts his foot and they’re off.

They soar right past the building, the wheels coming into contact with the brick wall once before they shoot straight up. Simon is screaming into his ear, holding on to him for dear life as they get closer to the night sky. When the hotel is way below them, Raphael jerks the steering wheel so they’re flying horizontally now.

“You could’ve told me these can  _fly_!”

“What? Is Baby afraid of heights?” Raphael teases. He hits the gas again so they shoot forward.

“Motherfu- if I fall to my death I’m gonna kill you!”

Raphael full on laughs now.

“You won’t fall if you just hold on, I promise. Now, ready to see something cool?”

“Not if you’re gonna shoot straight for the stars, I’m not!”

“I promise I’m not. Just wait and see.”

Simon clings even harder to his chest as they fly over the sleeping city. Raphael zigzags between buildings and ducks down to hover above the streets, but always gets back into the dark air before anyone can see them.

They get to the East River ten minutes later and Raphael flies further away from Brooklyn, hovering over the dark water beneath them.

“You ready?” He yells over the strong wind, slightly turning his head to glance at Simon. The fledgling doesn’t look so nervous anymore. When he gives him a short nod, Raphael turns off the motor.

They drop like a brick and Raphael can feel his stomach in his throat as they approach the water with a dizzying speed. Simon is screaming in his ear again. Right before they hit the water, the motor roars back to life. They only hit the water with one wheel before they take off again.

“Don’t you ever do that again, you jerk!” Simon screams hoarsely.

“Oh, come on. You didn’t even like that one bit?”

“No!”

“Okay. What about this?”

“Rapha-aaaaah!” Simon all but wraps his legs around Raphael’s body as well and goes full on koala on him when Raphael makes the motorcycle shoot upward and then forward again so that they’re not flying upside down. He drives them back to the water, gets so close he can see their reflection in the moonlight. Raphael stretches out a hand to skim his fingers over the dark water.

“Keep your hands on the wheel!”

“Stop worrying, Simon! What’s the worst that can happen? You can’t die again, not like this.”

Raphael can sense that Simon wants to say something else, but he loudly claps his jaws together and stays quiet. After a heartbeat or two he can feel one of his arms unwrapping from his waist. The next thing he knows, Simon is skimming his fingers over the water as well.

When he steadies them again above the Brooklyn Bridge, Simon is hollering.

“Okay, that was pretty awesome!” He admits.

“Told you.”

“What’s next?”

“Oh, the night’s still young, Simon,” Raphael smirks. Then he speeds up again.

They end up flying through the air the entire night, sometimes almost drifting, other times soaring so fast the world blurs around them. Simon is having the time of his life now, holding his arms in the air as Raphael guides him through the New York night sky. His laugh booms through the quiet night.

When they finally park in the backyard again, Simon’s hair is a total mess and his face looks like that of a child.

“That was  _amazing_!” He cheers. Raphael smiles at him as he gets off the motorcycle too.

“You wanna learn how to ride?”

“I w- of course I want to!”

“Good. Training at 11pm tomorrow. Be there, and we can go for a ride afterwards.”

Simon is perfectly on time the next night. He’s even wearing a leather jacket to match Raphael’s.

**~~**

The world isn’t built for vampires.

It’s just some kind of universal rule that things happen during the day and don’t happen during the night. The mall is open when the sun is up and closes before darkness can settle. Restaurants close around midnight, when the children of the night are roaming the streets. 

So to say it’s a challenge to find something vampire friendly in the Mundane world is an understatement.

“Why are we here?” Raphael asks, looking around with barely hidden disgust in his gaze. Simon nudges him in the ribs.

“Don’t be such a bitter old man, Raph. This is fun!”

“Firstly, I  _am_  a bitter old man. Secondly, a fair really isn’t my idea of ‘fun’.”

“No? Then what is? Seeing mold grow in your basement?”

Raphael rolls his eyes and nudges him back, maybe a bit harder than he intended to. Or maybe not.

“Look, this is one of the only Mundane things still open when it’s dark out unless you count clubs, but you have those in your world too.”

“ _Our_ world.”

“Whatever man. I just wanted to show you something I used to enjoy as a Mundane. Try to at least  _pretend_  like you enjoy it. Please?”

Raphael sighs dramatically.

“Fine,” he gives in.

Simon cheers and drags him along, darting from stand to stand to play ridiculous games and win even more ridiculous stuffed animals.

Raphael ends up winning him a giant pink teddy bear, a soft elephant, a bubble blower and a pilow shaped like a hotdog, though that can’t possiblly be comfortable. Simon struggles to carry all his stuff and Raphael refuses to help him with it, but he’s too happy to care.

He doesn’t miss the looks people give them either, or how girls slap their boyfriends and whisper ‘ _that’s_  how you do it’ as they walk by. It makes Simon feel oddly… happy, when people see them and assume they’re together.

Thanks to his vampire hearing, he can also hear what people further away say about them. About how attractive they both are, and if they aren’t by any chance two Hollywood stars laying low.

“ _I bet the shorter one totally fucks the nerdy one senseless,“_ a guy even whispers to his boyfriend.

Simon gulps and glances at Raphael, who just has a little grin on his face.

“Hey, let’s go in there!” Simon points as they approach a Ferris wheel. Raphael frowns at him and then back at the wheel.

“I thought you were afraid of heights?”

“I’m relatively okay with them if I’m not soaring through the air on a possessed motorcycle. Come on, please?”

“Okay, okay!  _Dios,_ I don’t even know why I put up with you.”

Simon smiles brightly.

“Because deep down in that lifeless, cold heart of yours, you care about me.”

The older vampire glares at him, but doesn’t deny Simon’s statement.

They get into a seat, rearranging Simon’s stuff on both their laps to fit in. Raphael swats at the trunk of the stuffed elephant and looks annoyed to be trapped here, but Simon decides to ignore that and enjoy the feeling of his side pressed against his.

When they take off and slowly gain height, Simon swallows loudly.

“Oh god, you look like you’re gonna throw up,” Raphael says.

“I may be more afraid of heights than originally expected,” Simon admits.

“Great."

Raphael doesn’t seem to plan on helping Simon calm down, so the young fledgling takes matters into his own hands and reaches out to lace his fingers with Raphael’s.

At first, Raphael doesn’t move. Simon thinks he may not even notice their intertwined fingers, but then his mentor sighs and relaxes, sitting back in the seat as he looks over the skyline.

“Pretty good view,” he says after a while.

“I mean, nothing beats my motorcycle. But it’s a nice second.”

“Yeah, well. Unfortunately Mundanes don’t have flying motorcycles just yet.”

Raphael looks at him then, the same small smirk as before dancing on his lips.

“Another perk of being a vampire, right?”

Simon rolls his eyes at him, but he’s smiling too.

“Right.”

They hold hands and just sit in comfortable silence until they’re back on the ground. Raphael even helps Simon carry his stuff as they leave.

“So, why did you want to get in the Ferris wheel in the first place if you’re so scared of heights?”

Simon almost drops his elephant and trips over his own feet before silently mumbling: “I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand.”

Raphael doesn’t say anything, just carefully reaches out to take Simon’s hand again.

They get even more glances as they walk over the fair now.

**~~**

“Why?”

Raphael asks this question a lot around Simon. It usually isn’t out of interest, because he wants to know what Simon is doing or how the story he’s telling continues. Usually, the question isn’t even addressed to Simon. It’s kind of a question to the Lord himself, questioning him about his poor decisions.

Seriously, Raphael is a god fearing man. But even he questions the Lord’s ways around Simon and his  _ideas_.

Tonight, the fledgling is standing in the middle of Raphael’s room, a dotted kind of carpet at his feet and a giant grin on his face.

“We’re playing Twister!” He states excitedly.

“Why?” Raphael repeats. Simon lets his arms, which he’d been holding open in a grand gesture, fall to his sides and sighs.

“Look man, I don’t know either. Being a vampire is a lot cooler than being a Mundane, okay? This was the best i could come up with.”

“You’re a walking disaster,” Raphael mumbles as he inspects the plastic lying on the ground.

“You love me for it, though,” Simon winks.

Raphael doesn’t confirm or deny it.

“Are you in or not? Because i may have broken into a toy store to get it and if I have to return it-”

“Simon!”

“I’m kidding! I asked Clary to pick it up at my old house. Jeez, you really can’t take a joke.”

Raphael glares at him, then sinks to his knees to spin the little wheel lying next to the plastic.

“Aha, that means right hand blue,” Simon smiles. He demonstrates by putting the right hand on the right color.

“Spin again.”

So Raphael does.

In retrospect, it might not have been the best idea to play Twister with a perfectly balanced vampire. Simon may have gotten a bit better at balancing himself, but he’s still his own clumsy self. By the time Raphael has his limbs in impossible knots and it still pefectly fine, Simon’s muscles are  _screaming_ for him to just stop.

“Can you spin for me? If I lift my hand now I’ll fall on my face and break my nose.”

Raphael chuckles and spins the wheel with ease.

“Left foot red,” he says. Simon curses under his breath and lifts his foot from the circle it was standing on. Then he grunts as he swings his leg over Raphael to get to red.

He doesn’t realize he’s basically mounting the poor guy until Raphael shifts underneath him.

“Uh - oh, shit. S- sorry,” Simon apologizes. He’s glad he can’t blush anymore, because otherwise he’d be red as a tomato now.

“Don’t apologize. I kinda like it,” Raphael teases. There’s a lightness to his voice only reserved for Simon.

“Shut up.”

“Whatever you say. Now, lift your hips. I need to get my right hand on yellow somehow.”

“I’m gonna fall if I do.”

“You fall, you lose.”

Simon groans in frustration and tries to lift his hips, but instead he loses his balance and slips. Raphael falls on the floor too, a small ‘umf’ escaping his lips.

“Rematch?” Simon suggests when they’re back onto his feet.

“Why not,” Raphael shrugs, and he spins the wheel again.

If Simon thought they’d gotten themselves into an awkward position before, they’re in an I-will-never-be-able-to-look-you-in-the-eye-again-if-this-doesn’t-work-out-position now.

Raphael, flexible as always, managed to make a bridge out of his body. His feet are crossed and his hands are next to each other, both on blue. His stomach is pointing at the ceiling. Simon, lucky as he is, spun the exact same colors as Raphael did but handled the positioning of his body smarter. This means he’s now hovering above the older vampire, his hands next to Raphael’s and his legs open for his knees to fit between them. His arms are shaking.

Raphael reaches out to spin again for Simon.

“Right hand green,” he says. His breath tickles Simon’s cheek.

Simon sticks out his tongue in concentration, carefully moves his right hand to cross Raphael’s chest and settle next to his left one and -

Raphael’s hands shoot from underneath him when Simon crashes into him. They both fall on the ground, Simon still on top of him.

“You’re really bad at this game,” Raphael says with a small laugh.

“Who says this wasn’t my plan to begin with?” Simon wonders. His eyes dart to Raphael’s lips for a split second.

“You couldn’t have known what colors or limbs I’d spin.”

SImon grins smugly.

“No, but I do have a lot of experience with Twister flirting 101.”

“And what’s that?” Raphael wants to know. His voice is soft now. Intimate.

“It’s a Mundane thing,” Simon replies brightly.

“It consists of two simple things. One: get tangled up with your crush and then ‘lose your balance’.”

“And what’s the second one?”

Simon’s eyes dart back to his lips and stay there as he whispers: “This.”

Simon’s lips are soft. Raphael enjoys the way they feel against his own, the way they fit together. He deepens the kiss almost embarrassingly fast, makes a small noise in the back of his throat when Simon’s tongue dips into his mouth.

He’s quick to flip them over and settles between Simon’s legs. Simon’s fingers find their way to Raphael’s hair, tug at the loose strands to free them from the hair gel.

Raphael smiles sweetly when he pulls back.

“Wanna play again?” He asks.

Simon shakes his head.

“I know a better game to play.”

“Oh? And that is?”

“Its called Seven Minutes In Heaven. Except there’s no closet involved, and I can last way longer than seven minutes.”

Raphael’s smile turns into a hungry grin.

“Challenge accepted,” he says.

**~~**

“I can’t believe I have more of a social life now that I’m dead than when I was alive.”

Raphael looks up from the magazine he’d been flipping through to admire Simon’s form in the mirror. The fledgling has his back turned to him and is looking at him through it.

“Technically, the only reason you can come is because you’re my plus one.”

Simon quirks an eyebrow.

“So I’m your date?” He beams.

“You won’t be my anything if you don’t hurry up. Vampires don’t appreciate late comers.”

“Hey, I’m ready! Are you?”

“I’ve been ready for two hours, Simon. Come on, let’s go.”

Simon takes a deep breath and makes his way through Raphael’s room. Raphael gets up and follows Simon, putting his hand on the small of his back to guide him through the hotel. The fledgling doesn’t seem to mind.

They don’t take the motorcycle, considering they both have to look presentable for the wedding they’re attending, and walk to it instead. It takes place in a building that looks like it came straight out of Europe during the Middle Ages. It looks completely out of place in the neighborhood, surrounded by tall skyscrapers and apartments, but somehow it seems appropriate for a vampire wedding. Something ancient in the midst of the modern world.

When they enter, there are already a lot of vampires seated in the classy chairs. Raphael guides Simon to the third row, where two seats are reserved for them.

“Who did you have to kill for such great seats?” Simon asks silently, looking around to the amount of vampires here.

“I’m a good friend of the bride.”

“How do you know each other?”

“We got Turned around the same time, went through fledgling training together. Sometimes I wish you weren’t the only fledgling in the DuMort. Maybe then you’d actually try your best.”

“Hey, I’ve been doing a lot better lately!”

“Yeah, but only because you get to ride my bike if I’m pleased with your work,” Raphael sighs, but his voice is laced with fondness.

“That’s not the only thing I want to ride,” Simon flirts daringly. Raphael glares at him.

“Shut up.”

“What? It’s not like we’re in church.”

“Only because we can’t enter holy ground. Other than that, everything is the same as a wedding in church. Which mean no innuendos until at least after the reception.”

“See, if this had been a Mundane wedding uncle Richard would already be throwing innuendos about the groom’s broom around.”

“No class,” Raphael mumbles, more to himself than to Simon. Simon wants to say something else, but then the music starts and everyone takes their seat.

The fledgling follows the ceremony with big eyes. It’s the first time since he got Turned he’s been quiet for longer than ten minutes.

Raphael watches Simon as Simon watches the wedding. He can’t help but smile when he sees the fledgling blink away some tears as the vampires at the altar exchange vows, talk about eternity and forever.

Vampire weddings aren’t that different from human ones. Raphael wants Simon to realize this, to see that he doesn’t have to be so different after all. Sure, he has to adapt to the vampire life and accept his clan as his new family. But being a vampire doesn’t equal being a monster with no morals and no traditions and no love. He hopes he understands this after today.

When the vampires exchanged their vows, Simon looks at Raphael. The older vampire doesn’t even bother looking away because that would only make it more obvious he’d been staring at him and just raises his eyebrows in question instead, waiting for Simon to make a comment.

“Aren’t they gonna exchange rings?”

Raphael smiles and shakes his head.

“Vampires do something more... physical to establish their bond.”

“Like what?”

He nods back at the ceremony still taking place.

“Just wait and see,” he instructs. So Simon does.

The bride moves first. She waits for the groom to tilt his head, expose his neck. Surrender to her. When he does, she moves forward and wraps her lips around the vein in his neck. Then she sinks her teeth into his flesh.

Simon has to stifle a a gasp in his fist and shoots Raphael a questioning look. Raphael moves to press his lips against his ear.

“Vampires leave a mark on their partner,” he says as quietly as he can.

“By drinking each other’s blood, we promise each other our life long loyality. We basically offer a small piece of ourselves to the other.”

“That actually kinda... sweet.” Simon almost sounds shocked.

“Of course it is. Vampires are quite sweet creatures.”

Simon makes a face at him and focuses back on the ceremony. The groom is doing the same to the bride now, gently cupping her cheek with his hand before sinking his teeth into her neck.

When they’re both done, the vampire leading the ceremony raises a cup which holds the blood of both the bride and groom and says: “Found each other through love, bound by blood, come together in marriage. It is official. It will be like this till the end of times.”

“It will be like this till the end of times,” the vampires in the room repeat. To Raphael’s disappointment, Simon looks horrified.

He waits for the married couple to leave the room and then takes Simon aside.

“Why do you look like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you just witnessed a horrible crime scene. Didn’t you like the ceremony?”

“Wh- no, I did! I even liked the blood drinking part. It’s just that - they’re bound for  _eternity_  now? What if they get tired of each other?”

Raphael is so relieved he almost starts laughing. Instead, he just snickers and pats Simon on the cheek.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Simon. Vampires bound by marriage don’t get tired of each other.”

“They don’t?”

“No! Unlike Mundanes, we only marry when we abslutely mean it. Look, vampires don’t fall in love easily. When we do, it’s for the rest of our lives.”

“I didn’t know that.”

”Of course you didn’t. You skip every Vampire Mannerism lecture.”

Simon smiles sheepishly at him in an attempt to wordlessly apologize. Raphael just rolls his eyes.

“So,” Simon says as they walk out of the building.

“When are you gonna drink  _my_  blood to establish our bond?”

He says it jokingly, doesn’t mean anything by it. But Raphael still stops walking and looks at him for a hearbeat. Then, slowly, he reaches out and presses the softest of kisses on Simon’s neck.

Like a promise. Like a whispered  _someday_.

 


End file.
